We had a nearly full house under Bert & Janie’s awning yesterday morning. The weather’s nice enough that people all over the park are socializing outside more, and the swimming pool is becoming our regular afternoon destination.

Rich C drops in on Bert & Janie, and Emma checks it out

Last night we went to Tarpon Springs, just northeast of our location, and to the Sponge Docks area of town. In 1905 the Greek sailors began to arrive in Tarpon Springs and collect sponges from the sea bottom. They still do today, and Dodecanese Blvd is now a tourist area filled with everything related to natural sponges that you can imagine.

We were here last April, when things are busier. Last night it was pretty quiet in town, and the shops closed up at 7:30. But that didn’t matter — we were there to meet a bunch of people at Hella’s for dinner: Bert, Janie, Barry, Susan, Brett, and Lori. A reservation for nine is no problem in Tarpon Springs on a weeknight in November.

The food was great: pan-fried calamari, spanakopita (spinach pie), moussaka, gyros, lemon-egg soup, and saganaki (a flaming cheese appetizer). Then we all walked over to the adjacent bakery, picked out a pile of desserts, and sat back down at the table for another half hour. There will be awesome leftovers today.

Eleanor is trying to find the perfect microwave to go on our new countertop. So far this project has consumed three days, in which she has browsed online sites and visited local stores. Every detail has been scrutinized: weight, dimensions, wattage, color, features. I think more analysis went into this than went into the last car we bought. Of course the perfect microwave is a special order since nobody seems to stock it, but even if it has to be ordered, the good news is that we will have a microwave in the trailer, in a week or two.